Quigley Gets Nod in 5th District

Rosanna Pulido leads Republicans

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Mike Quigley says the 5th District Democrats have voted for reform and change in Illinois.

Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley has bested a field of 11 other Democrats in a special primary election to fill the seat of former U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who left Congress to be President Barack Obama's chief of staff.

Quigley, who has been a Cook County commissioner since 1998, campaigned as a reformer and fiscal watchdog in the heavily Democratic district that includes Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs. His reputation for taking on establishment Democrats in Cook County earned him the endorsements of both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

"After all we've been through in Illinois in the last six months or so, this is really the first chance the voters have had to say, 'Enough is enough. We're voting for change and reform,'" Quigley told an audience of supporters.

The primary pitted a dozen Democrats against each other, including politicians like Quigley, longtime Chicago Alderman Patrick O'Connor and state Reps. Sara Feigenholtz and John Fritchey.

Republican Rosanna Pulido won in a pack of six GOP candidates. Pulido is director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, part of a national volunteer civilian border patrol group that wants to stem illegal immigration.

The Green Party leader was Mathew Reichel, separated from the next-highest vote getter by only 11 votes.

The 5th Congressional District has 348,678 registered voters in the city of Chicago and Cook County suburbs.